Folding chair.



1:". SIMMONS. FOLDING CHAIR. APPLICATION Hum JUNE 15. 1911.

1,034,653. Patented Aug. 6,1912.

mUllM MNDGRAPH GD., WASNNONN. D. C.

FINN SIMMONS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

FOLDING CHAIR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 6, 1912.

Application led June 15, 1 911. Serial No. 633,256.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, FINN SIMMONS, a citizen ofthe United States, and a resident of New York, borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invent-ed a certain new and useful Improvenient in Folding Chairs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specication.

This invention relates more particularly to a class of devices or collapsible chairs, and has for its, object primarily to provide a form of chair designed when not in use to be folded into a compact form so as to be conveniently carried by a person when going on an out-ing, or While at the seashore, or on other occasions, and which may be constructed so as to be of normal height and have a seat capacity of any desired dimension in order to provide a chair which will aiiord unusual comfort to sit upon when in use.

The advantages are attained mainlyl by providing a collapsible chair constructed of a plurality of legs pivotally held to a supporting member or plate, and to said member or plate are also pivoted a plurality of bars or standards of substantially the same length as the legs and which supports the seat of the chair. In folding my chair so as to vbe convenient for transportation the legs are adapted to be swung so as to overlap the supporting bars or standards, thereby forming a very compact chair which may be easily carried by person.

A further object oftheinvention is to provide means adapted to prevent the legs from spreading; and which is also adapted to limit the inward movement of the legs when the chair is in use.

With these and other objects in view, the invention will be hereinafter more .particularly described with referenceto the accompanying drawing, which forms apart of this specification, and will then befpointed out in the claims at the end of the descripi tion.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is an elevation of one form of improved folding chair embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail top plan, partly fragmentary and partly broken away, of the chair. Fig. 3 is a side view of the chair when folded. Fig. 4 is a view, partly broken away, of one of the legs of the chair overlapping one of the supporting bars when the chair is folded,

and Fig. 5 is a view showing a form of means employed for pivoting the supporting bars to the supporting plate.

The device or folding chair 10 has a supporting member or plate 11 which is preferably diamond-shaped. Upon each edge of .the supporting plate 11 is a hinge 12 by which one end of a leg 13 is pivotally held to said supporting plate. In proximity to the corners of the diamond-shaped supporting plate 11 are openings through which `are passed bolts or screw-eyes 14 for connecting a substantially diamond-shaped rod 15 to said supporting plate and upon said rod is pivotally held one end of supporting bars or standards 16.

The legs 13 may be substantially rectangular or other desired shape, and upon the free end of each of said legs is provided a foot or metal cap 16a. I prefer to employ four of the legs 13, and when the folding chair is in use the legs are radially disposed vin the form of an inverted V as shown in Fig. 1. In the opposed face of each of the legs 13 is a groove or slot 17 extending for a greater part of the length of. the leg, and at the lower end of the groove in two of said legs is pivotally held one end of a locking element or bar 18. Upon the opposite end of each of the bars 18 is a clip or catch 19 adapted to engage the groove 17 of the opposite leg in a manner to hold the legs rigidly when the chair is open for use.

The supporting bars or standards 16 are likewise substantially rect-angular in shape,

`and I also prefer to employ four of said `standards which are adapted to be swung `radially in the fashion of a V when it is desired to use the chair, and in order to limit the movement of the standards 16 toward each other when the chair is folded, upon the supporting plate 11 is mounted a guide block 20. Fastened upon the upper free end of each of the supporting bars or standcorners of the seat 21, and the line or lines 23 may be guided through rings or eyelets, as 24, provided upon the underside of said seat. One of the rings 24 is held centrally of the seat 21, and to said ring is fastened one end of a line 25. The opposite end of the line 25 passes through an opening in the guide block 2O as well as through an openf ing in the supporting plate 11, and upon the free end of the line 25 may be a ball 26 adapted to be gripped by the fingers of a person, so as to pull the line 25 toward the free ends of the legs 13 for folding the chair. Attached to each of the legs 13 and to each of the standards 16 is a flexible strap 27 which is adapted to be moved so as to swing the legs 13 to overlap said standards when directed towardeach other by folding the seat 21, as indicated by the dotted lines at 27a, when the line 25 is pulled as above mentioned. rIhe chair will then be folded, as shown in Fig. 3, and the parts thereof may then be held together by a strap 2S, or the like, whereby the chair may be readily carried by a person.

In the foregoing description I have embodied the preferred form of my invention, but I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself thereto, as I am aware that modifications may be made therein without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention, therefore I reserve to myself the right to make such changes as fairly fall within the scope thereof.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A folding chair comprising a supporting plate, diverging legs hinged at their upper ends to the outer ends of the plate, a block of reduced size carried upon the upper end of the plate, standards hinged at their lower ends upon the plate at the lower edge of the block and adapted to swing up when folded against the sides of the block to provide an interior space, a flexible seat secured across the Lipper ends of the standards, a folding cord attached beneath the central portion of the seat and passing down through the block and plate and adapted "to draw the seat down into the interior space when folded, closing members 'secured at pending legs hinged upon the plate and diverging therefrom to support the plate, standards hinged upon the plate .and diverging upwardly therefrom, flexible straps attached at their ends to the legs and standards adjacent to the outer ends of said legs and standards, a flexible seat secured across the upper ends of the standards, and a folding cord secured to the middle portion of the seat to draw the same downwardly to raise said legs into folding position overlapping said standards.

3. A folding chair comprising a plate, depending legs hinged upon the plate at the outer ends thereof and diverging therefrom to support the plate, a block of reduced size mounted upon the upper side of the plate, standards hinged upon the plate at the lower edge of the blocks and diverging upwardly therefrom, said standards adapted to swing up when folded against the side of the block to provide an interior space, flexible strips attached at their ends to the legs and the standards adjacent to the outer ends of said legs and standards, a flexible seat permanently secured across the upper ends i of the standards, closing members secured attheir ends to the free extremities of the standards, a folding cord attached beneath the central portion of the seat and passing down through the block and plate, said closing members having .their middle portions attached to the folding cord, said folding lfVitnesses:

' Roer. B. ABBOTT .E.M. Janina,`

Copies'of this patent may be obtained forvlve cents each, by addressingV the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

riNN siMMoNs,4 

